Congratulations - your offer was accepted

These are five words that I never take for granted in this business and I am aware of the impact these words have for my client. My client’s life is about to change in a significant way each time I share these five words.

The new house my client just purchased is not just “a three bedroom house with a detached garage”.  This new home is where this family is going to make many memories. This is where Johnny is going to learn to take his first steps. This is where Kelly will become best friends with her next door neighbour, Alicia. It’s not just a house, but a new chapter in someone’s life.

There was one specific situation I had earlier this year where this really hit home for me, and I was reminded of why being in this business is so important to me.

When new or past clients decide that it is time to make a move, I invite them to meet with me at our office for an informal discussion. Our new clients, Frank and Jen had never owned a home before but have always dreamed of it. They told me they felt they were late to home ownership, however they were extremely motivated to get out of their current rental situation. They felt “stuck” where they were. Their landlord and rental situation sounded awful, and they wanted to take control of their destiny and to finally own their own home.

They shared with me their needs and wants in their next home and it became apparent to me that it was going to be challenging to find something that suited their family’s needs within their budget. Jen further delved into their financial situation a bit more and I realized with the help of their mortgage broker, we would need to come up with a creative financing solution to make this purchase possible. I had experienced a similar situation with a client several years ago and knew that we would need an outside the box approach to getting them into home ownership.

The next day, I spoke with their mortgage broker to discuss a few scenarios and his response was “this might just work”.

We spent the next several weekends with Frank and Jen and their two children, looking at houses. On one of our property tours, Frank had casually mentioned that before meeting us, they had previously met with another real estate agent, (and to my surprise) that agent refused to show them any properties since they did not qualify to buy under conventional standards. They were happy that we listened to their needs and were “outside the box” thinkers.

About a month into our search, a property that checked off all of their boxes came on the market, however was located just outside their target area. We viewed it the next day and they felt great about the house. I could see Jen and Frank were excited that this could be the one! It was the best house we had seen so far, however we had to wait until the following Monday as the sellers were not reviewing offers until then.   

Following our viewing, I shared my property analysis with them and offered my thoughts on a range where this property might sell for. By Monday evening we would know how many competing offers there would be and this would also provide further guidance on pricing.

The offer presentation was scheduled to be at the house, meaning that I would be presenting our offer to the listing agent and sellers directly. I asked Frank and Jen to be available and close to the house so we could quickly deal with any potential changes during the negotiation of their offer.

Luckily, there was only one other competing buyer – we had a chance! After I presented the offer, I met with Jen, Frank and their two kids and we all waited outside the home as the sellers deliberated the merits of both offers.

We waited with what felt like an eternity and with each passing minute, I could see Jen and Frank get more and more anxious. I did my best to calm everyone’s nerves and shared a funny story of an overly “chatty” parrot that I encountered during property viewings with another client.

A few minutes later, the seller’s agent called me and asked me to come back into the home for an update.

“Good news”, she said. “We are going to take your offer”.  I thanked both the seller and their agent and asked if I can go share their decision with my client.

I left the house and walked around the corner to find them.

I could see Jen and Frank had a nervous excitement in anticipation of what I was going to say.

“Congratulations. Your offer was accepted”.

Jen and Frank’s reaction was so amazing and one that I will never forget. Jen had tears of joy and was hugging Frank and their kids were jumping up and down like they just won the lottery.

It was difficult for me not to feel emotional during that time, as Frank and Jen each gave me a hug and thanked me. I honestly could not be more happier for this family. Their offer was accepted and their life was about to change, for the better. They were no longer going to have to deal with their terrible rental situation. Home ownership… at last.

This situation captures why I absolutely love being in real estate.

To helping you achieve remarkable real estate results,

Alex and Elaine.